Thursday, 19 November 2009

Tim Burton @ MoMA: A taster

I said it yesterday, but it's worth repeating: the Tim Burton exhibition at MoMA in New York is extraordinary. And astonishing. And breathtaking. In both scale and content. If you're a fan, you are going to love it. Plain and simple.

With material dating back to his student days, leading up to his time at Cal Arts, his early years at Disney, and taking in all his movies as well as his more personal artwork, including paintings, sketches and drawings, the exhibition is almost overwhelming, in terms of sheer size and the amount of creativity on display. I spent almost two hours wandering around, and I could have spent several more.

There are models — from Vincent, and Mars Attacks! and Nightmare Before Christmas — props, storyboards, letters, giant Polaroids, and student films, including those I showed at the BFI in 2007, as well as specifically commissioned sculptures based on his drawings.

They also have his little seen Hansel & Gretel short for the Disney Channel playing on a loop, as well as test footage of the stop-motion martians created initially for Mars Attacks! which had the fanboy in me staring agog.

Present at Monday's night sneak peek were many familiar faces, the vast majority of which have been longtime Burton collaborators over the years, both in front and behind the camera. Included here are a few photos I took before it got too busy. I'll post some more another time.